This episode was really exciting, and it focused on a number of characters who have been woefully underrepresented this season. All in all, I'm happy!
Cons:
This episode, as I'll talk about in a lot of detail in a minute, focuses on ideological divides. Is the use of superpowers on a suspect justified without hard evidence, if it might save more lives in the future? Is it dangerous to have Inhumans roaming the world unchecked? Are groups like the Watchdogs terrorists or are they fighting back against an entrenched power that doesn't care about the little guy? These are all perfectly interesting questions, but I will admit I got a little annoyed with how on-the-nose this episode was in dealing with them. Characters would come right out and say how they felt about the complicated issues, and I feel like that kind of black and white concise discourse doesn't really exist outside of... well... comic books. So there's the irony, I guess. It's not a bad thing, but it's not my style, and I've seen this show deal with issues in much more nuanced and complicated ways.
There was one subplot thing that didn't quite work for me... during one part of the story, Fitz gets hit with some sort of substance that appears to be killing him, and he and Daisy have to scramble to get an antidote working to counter this biological weapon. Fitz is saved without much trouble, though, and with everything else going on in this episode I wasn't really sure why that detail was even included. Maybe they're setting up the biological weapon as a plot device for later?
Pros:
Sometimes this show has an overcrowding issue, where there are a lot of different plot threads going on at the same time, and there's not enough focus on each one. This week, there were a lot of different stories going on, but each one felt well-rounded and relevant. Let's take a look at each in turn.
Mack is off duty visiting with his little brother Ruben, who has no idea that he's with S.H.I.E.L.D. and thinks his job has something to do with insurance. They are hanging out and fixing their bikes when the news comes on - an ATCU facility has just been bombed by a group of vigilantes styling themselves the "Watchdogs." Mack gets called in to help Daisy go investigate. He leaves Ruben, who doesn't know why his brother's work is so important all of a sudden, and who also seems to have some pro-Watchdog leanings. Later on, Ruben tells Mack that he's having money troubles, and that the Watchdogs seem to understand what he's going through. When Mack gets called in to help Daisy and Fitz, who are at the ATCU facility, Ruben follows him secretly and sees what he does. When Daisy uses her powers, the Watchdogs mistakenly think it was Mack, and follow him and Ruben back to Ruben's place, while Daisy and Fitz deal with their own problems (specifically Fitz's creepy melting skin). Mack and Ruben have to fight off the Watchdogs who have come to kill them. Mack gets shot, but it's not fatal, and Ruben finally realizes how important his brother's job truly is.
Mack has been floating along doing nothing for pretty much all season, so I was really happy to see him get some focus. He's missing Bobbi and Hunter, and he confides in his brother that things have been hard at work, even though he can't tell him specifics. I loved meeting Mack's little brother. It instantly added more humanity to his character. I wish we would do more tie-ins with the team's family. I want to meet Mr. and Mrs. Simmons, or Fitz's parents! This plot line with Ruben also brought us back to Mack's whole "blue collar mechanic" sort of vibe that he had when he was first befriending the brain-damaged Fitz. There was even a lovely moment where the two of them (Mack and Fitz) started nerd-spiraling about a substance developed by Howard Stark, and poor Daisy just had no idea what they were talking about.
It might be a bit simplistic, but I also liked the way this plot thread showcased Mack as a hero. Ruben was sympathizing with the Watchdogs for the same reason I think a lot of people sympathize with Trump, in a way - it's frustrating to live in a crappy world and to feel as if nobody is doing anything to change it. Anybody who is willing to make a splash and suggest radical alterations to the status quo is bound to get attention and even a certain measure of support. But by the end of the episode, Ruben saw how the Watchdogs were willing to barge into his house and kill two people without even trying to talk with them first, and he saw how Mack did everything in his power to save him. Mack helps people, and Ruben got to see that in action.
I also loved the little scene at the end when Daisy talked to Ruben about his brother. Ruben calls him "Alphie," and Daisy is delighted: "Wow. Thank you." Turns out, Ruben goes by "Mack" with his friends as well, which leads to Daisy calling him "Mini Mack." Well, that's just precious. I think it was important to see this friendly moment between Daisy and Ruben, actually, because both of them were earlier seen taking a very hard line on opposite sides of a contentious issue. Daisy feels persecuted by all this talk of registering and rounding up Inhumans, and she absolutely should feel persecuted by that. But so far, Daisy hasn't seemed willing to acknowledge the logical reasons for people's fear and doubt. She's proud of being Inhuman and anybody whose thoughts differ from hers is clearly being prejudiced and nothing more, at least in her mind. This ending scene shows that Daisy is still a kind, fair person underneath her crusader-like exterior.
Meanwhile, former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Felix Blake is revealed to be back in the mix, but this time as a villain: disillusioned by the fact that the entire time he was working for S.H.I.E.L.D. it was actually Hydra, he is now connected with the Watchdogs. Even worse - Blake and the Watchdogs are being funded by Malick. Turns out, the attack on the ATCU facility was just a distraction so that Hydra could steal something: a weapon. This is not going to be good. I had pretty much forgotten who Felix Blake was, but once I remembered, I was glad to see him back in the story. Last time we saw him, Deathlok had critically injured him. Now, he's back and he's angry. I like the fact that he connects the Watchdogs to Hydra, since at this point in the season we really need to have a solid and unified sense of who the villain is. There are so many complicated moral questions that have the potential of fracturing our heroes - they need at least some baddies they can point at and unambiguously work against.
Coulson and Lincoln spend the episode trying to track down Blake. Turns out, Lincoln's agent training isn't going so well, as Coulson has determined that Lincoln is only here for Daisy, not for the cause. In this way, Lincoln's character fills in the gap left by Hunter, who was accused more than once of being there only for Bobbi. Coulson doesn't know Lincoln all that well, and points out that he's vetted every other member of the team except for Lincoln. As the two work together, there comes a moment when Coulson orders Lincoln to kill Blake, who appears to be standing before them. Lincoln doesn't want to use deadly force, but he does zap him when Coulson gives him a direct order. Turns out, it was a hologram.
I loved this plot line between Lincoln and Coulson. They could have veered it off into a weird "Coulson is Daisy's father figure and Lincoln is her boyfriend" territory, but they didn't. Coulson was sharp with Lincoln because he needed to test his loyalty to the cause. In the end, Lincoln proved he could temper his rage in that he didn't immediately want to kill Blake, and indeed protested when ordered to do so. At the same time, when it came down to it he did move to take Blake down, even if he refused to use deadly force. It was a clever way of testing him, and I'm happy to see that Lincoln has passed the test. Like I mentioned before, it seems like Lincoln might fill the role that used to be Hunter's, in a way. Is his loyalty to Daisy, or to S.H.I.E.L.D.? What will happen if those two concerns don't align? It was nice seeing Coulson be a tough leader, too. It reminds me that he's very good at his job. I especially liked the moment when he yelled at Lincoln for interrupting him, and said he hadn't earned that right yet. He's not an unreasonable boss, but he won't allow untested people to question his authority.
There was a great subplot in this episode with May and Simmons, two characters who have had very little to do over the past few weeks. Simmons is busy training herself to be better with a gun. She tells May she's tired of being the one that needs saving. And since she's pretty much "the only woman here who can't kill with her bare hands," she needs to get better with firearms. Simmons feels guilty that Will died and Fitz almost died to save her, and she feels especially guilty about all of Lash's victims, since she was the one to set him free in order to save her own skin. May tells her it's not her fault, but Simmons still feels responsible. May then tells Simmons that she's been trying to track Lash down, and asks Simmons for her help. May also reveals that she will have to kill Andrew when she finds him. Simmons mentions that maybe the potential cure that she and Fitz are working on could help Andrew, because last they checked he hadn't finished his transition yet. May says no - she doesn't want Simmons to give her false hope.
This plot thread was awesome. I love the fact that we're finally addressing some of these things, especially Lash, who has been out of the story for so long I sort of figured they had forgotten about him. And what could possibly be more heartbreaking and intense than May and Simmons teaming up to find him and take him out? Simmons is right to feel guilty, in a sense, for letting Lash out, but the situation is obviously not cut and dry. And May telling Jemma not to give her hope? That was just devastating. May needs to do what's best for everybody involved, and she knows that means killing her husband. If Simmons starts putting ideas of saving Andrew's life into her head, she won't be able to do what needs to be done. I also just adored the two of them having scenes together, since I don't think we've had very many May & Simmons-centric plot threads in the past. Hopefully this will continue in the coming weeks, because I'd love to see more.
As much as I miss Bobbi and Hunter, I have to grudgingly admit that I may have been wrong last week: I said their presence would be missed in terms of having complex discussions about S.H.I.E.L.D. and the morality of its actions. Turns out, the other characters have got these discussions well in hand, and the focus might actually be a bit better without two extra voices thrown into the mix. Everybody got a chance to speak in this episode, and I feel like I understand everybody's perspectives a little bit better.
I do hope we get some more focus on Fitz and Simmons in coming weeks. Quite apart from thinking that they're cute together, I feel there's a bit of a dangling plot thread there that needs to be picked up at some point. Hopefully we can get that soon. I can't wait to see more of the Watchdogs, and start delving in deeper to some of these divisive issues that have started to arise amongst the team.
8.5/10
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